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Broken tube/shipping incident

I shipped a guitar, in a hard case, triple packed with 2" thick rigid foam around it, followed by about 10 gallons of styro peanuts, double boxed in dishpack-thickness containers. Package arrived to buyer smashed flat, with forklift wheel tracks across it. Guitar totally destroyed. The shipping company rep claimed no responsibility, and made it a personal challenge to deny all attempts to recoup cost.
 
Having shipped close to two hundred tubes and a dozen tube amps without incident (*)I am stunned. Always pull the tubes, wrap, cushion them etc.

* Not completely accurate. I shipped a matched set lap steel and an ancient amp with a damaged speaker. The speaker became more damaged when the power cord became untied and added another rip to the cone. It was one of those deals where the seller (me) got so beat up by the buyer before the sale that my gut said walk away from sale. I did offer to pay shipping back and refund him all of his money, but that wasn't enough, he needed to yell some more.
 
I shipped a guitar, in a hard case, triple packed with 2" thick rigid foam around it, followed by about 10 gallons of styro peanuts, double boxed in dishpack-thickness containers. Package arrived to buyer smashed flat, with forklift wheel tracks across it. Guitar totally destroyed. The shipping company rep claimed no responsibility, and made it a personal challenge to deny all attempts to recoup cost.

That is insane...
 
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I rolled the dice with this one on Craigslist so my recourse is pretty limited. I should have specified tube packaging, but ya win some, ya lose some.

I got a really good deal on this second purchase from guitar centers used section, so I think I can flip this into a positive.
 
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So needless to say this is a real bummer. The amp was dropped, from what I can assume was a pretty decent height.

All the tubes popped out of their sockets. Only one actually shattered, but the little plastic nipple is snapped off of all of them.

Are they all shot, or is there some way to salvage the rest?

If the nipple is gone, but they're still intact, they could still function. Don't try this at home, unless you really want to. But... Be very, very careful if you attempt to put them back in because if they don't align properly you've just rearranged the circuit with a bunch of voltage bouncing around inside all that glass!

Not saying you couldn't use them again, just saying be very, very careful. Also, you may want to make sure the one you get to replace the way broken one matches up with the others.
 
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Tube amps are shipped from manufacture to store everyday with tubes installed. I don't see why people insist tubes should be removed.


It depends on the amp. I've shipped many tube amps over the years. I always give a tug to see if they are snug. Then, if it's small enough, I ship with a careful handler like USPS. Bigger boxes that will be bounced around by UPS or the like, or where the tube don't sit as snug, get their tubes wrapped in bubble wrap.
 
FWIW, if you're going to try to reattach the plastic keys, there is a product called Plastex that works better than any glue I have ever tried, even stuff specifically meant for plastic. It's a bit pricey, but it's amazing stuff and it has repaired items that nothing else would work on. It's not really an adhesive, more of a plastic powder and solvent that becomes part of the item being repaired. You can even replace missing chunks with it.
 
FWIW, if you're going to try to reattach the plastic keys, there is a product called Plastex that works better than any glue I have ever tried, even stuff specifically meant for plastic. It's a bit pricey, but it's amazing stuff and it has repaired items that nothing else would work on. It's not really an adhesive, more of a plastic powder and solvent that becomes part of the item being repaired. You can even replace missing chunks with it.

That's a good idea.
 
So the 2nd one you ordered from Guitar Center got damaged in shipping also, correct?
I was just able to buy it for $100 from them so was just curious how bad the damage was?
I'm assuming it was from you since it was the richmond guitar center.
Thanks.
I rolled the dice with this one on Craigslist so my recourse is pretty limited. I should have specified tube packaging, but ya win some, ya lose some.

I got a really good deal on this second purchase from guitar centers used section, so I think I can flip this into a positive.
 
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So the 2nd one you ordered from Guitar Center got damaged in shipping also, correct?
I was just able to buy it for $100 from them so was just curious how bad the damage was?
I'm assuming it was from you since it was the richmond guitar center.
Thanks.

Yeah that's the one haha. They called me and asked if I wanted to buy it again.

The tubes were smashed, and there was a lot of damage to the chassis and faceplate. The faceplate is reeeeally banged up and the bottom two screws snapped off so it's only attached at the top. I didn't crack it open and look at the circuitry, so I don't have any idea what's going on in there. For a 100 bucks though you could come out of it with a steal.

The dude told me it's been passed around to multiple locations, and that they put 600 into repairs before they even sold it to me and I got it for 699.
 
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Got it today. Damage looks mainly cosmetic so far. Looks like it was shipped in the rack case and the entire weight of the amp was pulling down on the rack mounts and maybe it was dropped that way.

The front plate got bent up, only two screws are still holding it onto the chassis, the other 4 broke.
Bit of damage to the sides of chassis from the force that messed up the front. Looks like all the cosmetic stuff can be repaired decently.
Will know more once I open it up. Does still have glass floating around inside.
 
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Got all the covers off and can find no damage at all to the inner chassis assy and it looks like it's had all the filter caps replaced so I am thinking I got quite the deal for $100. Ok $145ish after tax and shipping.

Just need to remove the outer rack shell pieces and bend them back in shape and remove pcb's to fully inspect and make sure updates are done. Then put some 6550's in it and try it out.

This will be 3 svt's now......
Yeah, I have too much gear!!!
 

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